Scale of Sexual Predation

Like a bloated whale corpse wedged into a narrow river delta, back-clogging organic matter along with the detritus of self-absorption and disrespect until it is finally dislodged by forces of nature, Harvey Weinstein’s outing as a rapist has unleashed a flash flood of sexual violence allegations. All realms are impacted: government, pro sports, religious institutions, private businesses, nonprofits, and of course, the entertainment industry. People are suddenly emboldened to speak out and report the sexual predators in our various midsts.

This is marvelous.

What’s not such a great thing is while sexual violence is ubiquitious, for most of history we’ve pretended it wasn’t, and therefore have little actual information about the whole shitshow; the violence itself, how survivors cope (or don’t), even though so many of us are in fact, ourselves survivors. We also don’t know much about sexual predators or even the legal nature of proclaiming someone a sex offender.

Less than one decade ago, people who were convicted for selling “dildos” in Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Kansas received a Sex Offender status. Sex shops got around these draconian, ill-informed laws by selling “novelty items” and “marital aids.” I, personally was corrected after using the term “dildo” in a feminist sex shop in Texas in the early 2000s and had a conversation with a young lesbian woman who showed me the “Sex Offender” designation on her driver’s license.

Folks don’t like to think we’re easily manipulated. It makes us feel dumb. Nonetheless, we’re getting bullshitted out of keeping our eyes on the prize with this Harvey Weinstein business. We are close to something truly sprawling and ugly, so the big monsters are inundating us with lesser demons.

In the spirit of keeping our attention on what’s really behind that flash flood, I created this Scale of Sexual Predation.

0: The Insistent

Sex addicts incapable of viewing others in a nonsexual manner. Zeros perceive everyone sexually, and their interest level in you teeters on whether they want to have sex with you. Zeros are interested in consensual sex with people around their age and have exemplary unconscious impulse control. They present a danger largely to those who want to have a committed, monogamous relationship or to those who resent being constantly perceived through a sexual lens, both of which are easy enough to steer clear of.

1: The Insistent, Unplugged

Sex addicts with impulse problems who must consciously make an effort to control them. Like Zeros, Ones never take their “Fuck Them?” glasses off and usually stay within their age range. However, they make unwanted “connections” with folks who are possibly just minding their own business and constantly throw uncomfortable sexual overtones into abjectly nonsexual contexts. Although they make the conscious effort to rein in their impulses, alcohol and drugs often defray this effort significantly. The danger here is in the drugs and alcohol. Ones—particularly in their younger years, when peers don’t yet have the frame of reference to say, “Nahh…you’re responsible for drunk you just like you’re responsible for sober you”—love the excuse inebriation provides and use their altered state to run amuck and afoul of personal boundaries. This may lead to date rape, party rape or, if there are enough inebriated Ones gathered together, gang rape.

A Three is someone who spends the night at their best friend’s house and consensually explores with/molests/rapes a younger sibling or family member in the home.

If a One commits rape, and (even silently) admits to rape, a variety of life-changing responses present themselves. Remorse can cause them to bury their shit deeper, bust out a better impulse control plan, seek therapy, quit using drugs and alcohol as an autobahn to bad behavior or double down and continue to a higher level of predation. In general, Ones, like Zeros, want only consensual sex, which is why a nonconsensual situation brought about by their impulse control issues affects them profoundly.

2: The Shame-Peddler

Car masturbators, exhibitionists, subway humpers et al. These folks are having sex with you in their minds while they masturbate, and there’s really fuck-all anyone can do to stop them. Twos usually target a specific type, not excluding children. They may/may not make you aware of your involvement. The Twos who get off on your reaction inherently let you know what’s going on, but others set about their predation very quietly. In general, Twos are wracked with shame and will start crying, sputtering excuses or even act indignant and outraged about “this misunderstanding” if confronted. They almost always run if chased. The danger of a Two is relative. How much does it bother you to know someone is surreptitiously rubbing their genitals inches away from you? Feel free to scream out in disgust or physically react with your bag to their head, but know this: that might be part of their fantasy and you just gave them jack-off material for the next week.

Like I say, there’s not much to be done about someone who does their dirtiest work in their imagination.

3: Frustrated, Sheltered Youth

Young people raised under some kind of (not necessarily religious) indoctrination that retards their mind from maturing at a rate commensurate with their physical body. Someone commanded to pray away their intense corporal desires throughout their development into a biological adult might make a bad decision or two. If this bad decision somehow serves a kid more than prayers—or whatever distraction authority figures present as a pale substitution for dealing with natural growth as a human being—a Three might keep making these bad decisions until they’ve developed a rapey-assed sexuality.

Keep in mind the internet can indoctrinate youth via woefully undereducated, often misogynistic social networks that form around various premises of sexual control over others. In this manner, there is no difference between a home-schooled Christian kid who’s never seen the inside of a Japanese restaurant and an urban kid with helicopter parents who subscribes to “Involuntary Celibacy” or manosphere dating advice sites. Threes give over the rage that simmers for their church or parents to older predators, who extol the wonders of hating and manipulating whoever it is they wish to have sex with.

Indoctrination creates a micro-universe with its own vocabulary, morals and codes of conduct. Sometimes, this involves prayer groups specifically designed to intervene with natural adolescent desires, and other times it involves the hateful goading the ignorant into strategizing ways to stalk, pathologize, coerce, drug and/or rape anyone they set their hearts on.

A Three is someone who spends the night at their best friend’s house and consensually explores with/molests/rapes a younger sibling or family member in the home. I say “younger” because a Three is dimly aware that what they are doing is probably not okay and stays away from their immediate peer pool. Their total lack of an otherwise healthy experimental development period puts a Three in grave danger of shifting upward on our scale.

As it is, Threes represent the most blameless individuals who rape. They are young products of shit microcultures who have a great chance of evolving into wonderful, loving people given the right circumstances; to wit: tearing down their harmful indoctrination to find the shining jewel of life buried within. The dangers they present to others, however, are legion.

Threes who don’t realize they are part of an unhealthy culture re-create and sustain that altered reality without question. Going into adulthood with a perception at odds with biology often leads to predatory escalation, which almost assuredly branches off from a hallway lined with scenes of the many bad decisions committed throughout adolescence.

The world of sexual predation is complex, and we’re going to get into one of them now. In households, extended families or intimate communities where a sexual predator is preying on children, this predator sometimes recruits another (possibly slightly older) child to somehow take part. This child is automatically a Three and in a really bad spot because a trusted, respected authority figure teaches them that raping other kids is a good way to pass the time. You can only imagine the problems that arise for this kind of Three. Some go with it wholeheartedly, learning at an early age how to manipulate and control others. Some are utterly terrified of the adult predator in their midst. Some enjoy raping when they are children but grow up just destroyed with guilt and shame over their actions, and from there, we all know, when guilt and shame fester, the sky’s the limit. Threes respond in a multitude of ways and face various destinies. It takes a strong-minded individual with a village holding them up to get any good out of these situations.

4: The Trafficker

Despite the profound damage this person is responsible for, they’re relatively low on our scale because, as an individual, they do not personally commit untoward acts upon anyone else’s person. This predator is a small-time, largely regional capitalist whose sole interest is profit. Fours create rape opportunities and facilitate the needs of rapists—especially rapists who want to believe they are not rapists if they are paying for the “right” to rape.

This person would NEVER hurt a child.

To people perceived as vulnerable, Fours represent a devastating, life-altering danger. They’ll brazenly kidnap two kids walking home from school together, haunt bus and train stations for guileless/desperate young faces, shop around at meetings for recovering addicts, hang about fashion centers that attract young people who might not want to pass up a fabulous chance to become a model, offer good jobs to people from other countries but seize their passports when they arrive, pick off people crossing/being smuggled across borders like cherries for a cobbler and blackmail kids who did something kinna dumb (like sending them a nude photo) into doing something life-destroying.

Unless they kidnap you, Fours lay on the charm reallllllly thick to get their hooks in. The best defense against them is to never trust nice people. Trust assholes and loud mouths with your life eons before trusting someone who is effervescently interested in you from the get-go. If you’re under the age of 18, you are not interesting to adults who mean you no harm. Steer clear of grown-ups who come on strong, yet have no emotional investment in you.

Some traffickers, however, have realized that a lot of kids are rightfully leery of adults, so they recruit young people as scouts to rope others in. The best weapons against these sneaky little shits are: create and maintain a friend pedigree, always have someone to contact in case of emergencies, keep your wits about you, have friends who protect you, protect your friends and learn self-defense.

5: The Tabula Rasa

Left to their own devices, Fives are completely harmless and have no predatory inclinations whatsoever. The Tabula Rasa, in fact, has few inclinations at all and looks to others for an identity. If these others are upstanding, moral, lovely people, so too shall the Tabula Rasa be. If these others are sexually predatory alpha assholes, the Tabula Rasa will be there on the sidelines, cheering, goading and partaking when the need arises. Fives aren’t just the ones who say and do nothing—which is bad enough—but also joyfully join in the party of tearing someone else down.

Their danger is purely contextual, and the best way to defeat them is by taking out their alpha and branding them on the forehead with a “TR” to warn others of their weakness as human beings.

In the media, Fives manifest in the form of journalists and editors who coerce the general population into diminishing the impact of rape by using headlines such as “38-Year-Old Charged over Sex Relationship with First-Grade Student” and “Infant Dead After Attempted Sexual Intercourse.” These media Fives are, unfortunately, products of a culture completely divorced from the prevalent sexual abuse occurring in its midst and therefore are doing nothing wrong.

Fix the culture and media Tabula Rasas will stop being unimaginative idiots who can’t find a thesaurus cause there isn’t one up their ass, where their head is.

P.S. I was joking about the brand. The fix for Tabula Rasas is universal.

6: Sneaky Shitticane

I hate this motherfucker.

Here are all the pedophiles, those cowardly bitches who devastated the lives of all those Threes up yonder. Here are the Threes who never found their way out of the schizophrenia of their indoctrination or out of the reality some other Six shoved down their throat when they were kids. Also represented here are the many Fives who decided on their own crap identity after all. Plenty of Sixes were sexually abused as children and decided this was a more viable approach to survival than facing what was done to them.

Sixes are invested in power and in whatever respect they judge their power is lacking. The best way they deal with their power vacuum is by developing a sexual desire for completely powerless individuals.

Here is the coach, the priest, the pastor, the rabbi, the imam, the teacher, the family friend, the babysitter, the parent, the step-parent, the sibling, cousin, uncle, aunt, grandfather, grandmother or parent’s significant other. This is the trusted adult who everyone loves. This person would NEVER hurt a child.

Eights can operate with stealth impunity their entire lifetime as long as they refrain from killing anyone.

Yes, Sixes invest at least 40 percent of their lives into convincing everyone around them that they’re a great person. Undoubtedly, some Sixes just don’t give a damn and have been abusing family members with impunity for so long, they really see no reason to expend any energy being pleasant. These Sixes, however, veer into Nines, given enough power and ensured silence of everyone affected by their raping bullshit.

Spotting a solid Six is tricky business. Sixes are happy, quick with a smile and reassuring word, but not everyone who is happy, quick with a smile and reassuring word is a Six.

Sixes have everything in place to make it seem like they’ve got their shit together and often have material objects or present fun experiences that are attractive to children, but not everyone who has everything in place to make it seem like they’ve got their shit together and has material objects or presents fun experiences that are attractive to children is a Six.

Sixes usually have a long-standing marriage or relationship, but not everyone in a long-standing marriage or relationship is a Six.

Sixes create lives that naturally contain children, but not everyone with a life that naturally contains children is a Six.

The older they get and the longer they get away with it, chances are they’ll become sloppy in some regard, but then again, maybe not.

Sixes destroy the lives of every child they touch, and that’s just so unfair to my mind. I know, I know, only silly cows use the word “unfair,” but here we have one individual who, according to going statistics, will rape at least 70 kids in their lifetime. That’s 70 people who grow up with this single solitary Six detrimentally dictating so much of their lives. The addictions, the suicides, the continued abuse of others—all 70 of those kids will tangle with at least one of those horrors as a young adult. Not to mention the therapy, sexual, love and relationship trust issues, flashbacks and many other profoundly intimate problems that arise in a child survivor’s life.

One Six, 70 lives.

That’s where the unfair to my mind bit comes in, and that’s why Sixes should be put to death.

Now, now, I know that’s not anti–death penalty, which I concurrently am, but hear me out. Like most of the other folks who populate this scale, Sixes are cowards. We’d really need to publicly execute only a few every once in a while before the rest of the Sixes would figure out a better way of expressing their powerlessness, such as by suicide.

A common Six philosophy is that pedophilia is their sexuality, just like gays and polygamous folks choose to express those sexualities. According to this belief system, theirs is the last remaining sexuality that’s against the law. So, you see, left to their own devices, Sixes have no fantasmagoriffic idea of rehabilitating themselves, and, if this is indeed a valid form of sexuality and we all agree it’s impossible to “convert” anyone to another sexuality, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS. The rest will find an organic way to stop their stupid shit.

7: Our Nation’s Alpha Bully

I hate this motherfucker too.

A direct by-product of any hierarchical, patrifocal, wealth-obsessed culture, Our Nation’s Alpha Bully cannot have a satisfying bowel movement without a standing ovation.

Why, Alpha, why?

Why does your strength come from the laughter of others, as you tear down a living being?

Why, Alpha, why?

What joy is there for you when you’re alone and don’t have anyone to witness your strength? Is that why you got married? Had kids? So you’d never be without someone to see your power?

You are the leader, the focus in the room; your nod is everyone’s assent. Your joke is everyone’s mirthful delight. Your fear is a secret, hush very hush, and anyone who sees it is crushed, very crushed.

Why, Alpha, why?

Why must your team always win?

Why must others pay?

Why must you always have a scapegoat?

That’s not healthy, you know. The desire for a scapegoat. Prevalent, certainly, but, healthy? No.

I know why, you shitty shit:

Because you took a look around the world you were born into and you said, “Ah-ha. I see quite clearly that someone will always be the one to never get their ass kicked and that person is the person who is kicking everyone else’s ass, so that’s who I’m gonna be.”

And I know why you said that. You said it for one of two reasons:

Someone bigger than you kicked your ass when you were small and powerless.

You are a sadistic sociopath, heavily endowed upon birth and/or circumstance with a grotesquely bloated sense of entitlement.

Both reasons can apply, but you only need one to set your life ablaze with the tears, pain, humiliation, even death of others.

Any culture or subculture obsessed with masculinity is rife with Sevens, and the Tabula Rasa Fives who adore them. The culture of Seven in the military, in prisons, and on sports teams knows rape is only a problem if the larger culture catches on; otherwise, shut your mouth unless you want to make things worse for yourself.

The best way to deal with Sevens is to completely remove yourself from society because Sevens and Fives have a lock on power.

The second best way to deal with Sevens is to wait patiently until your ingenious plan for ultimate revenge can be enacted. Until that time, plot nefariously and stay out of their way. Don’t party with Sevens and never become inebriated in their presence. Keep your exit clear and use it when the opportunity presents itself. The fewer people around to witness Our Nation’s Alpha Bully, the better.

8: Just Leave the Planet

This shitstain is the one made famous in movies and Jeffrey Dahmer lore.

The “stranger.”

Eights only feel like happy, whole human beings when they have complete control over someone else. They have absolutely no redeeming qualities and, not to put too fine a point on it, should be escorted off the planet the moment their identity as an Eight is factually established.

Eights can operate with stealth impunity their entire lifetime as long as they refrain from killing anyone. In general, predators stick within a certain age range. Eights are the exception here. Though they also usually have a “type,” time and access are more important to Eights.

This is the sexual predator you’re least likely to cross paths with, though keeping a clear head, finding resources where none exist and knowing self-defense are gonna be your best options were you to meet up with one.

9: Power-Tripping Bitch from Sucksville

The boss, the star, the CEO, the one calling all the shots, yes, but also the coach, the priest, the pastor, the rabbi, the imam, the teacher, the family friend, the babysitter, the parent, the step-parent, the sibling, cousin, uncle, aunt, grandfather, grandmother or parent’s significant other, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.

Nines are basically Sixes who command more actual power in the world. Is Grandfather a municipal judge? That might not seem like much power to some, but in this small town, Grandfather’s word is law, and Grandfather’s raping all the high school boys who get arrested.

Nines may or may not be pedophiles, though they generally prey on those younger than themselves.

Nines invite you to their hotel room, insist on private conferences and have every intention of giving you that raise or promotion just as soon as you…

Even after Harvey Weinstein, Nines are still safe. They throw out some low-hanging gay (Kevin Spacey), loser (Louis C.K.) fruit and circle the wagons around themselves. Sure, you might argue, Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. abused the fuck out of their power, and I’d probably annoy you by simply agreeing. But then I’d have to qualify my accord by mentioning the fact that if those two jackasses represent low-hanging fruit, imagine how much power and absolute control all those other Nines might wield.

Nines run the entertainment industry, and Kevin Spacey, for instance, felt safe knowing full and well that his actions would not be problematic for the people who sign his paycheck.

Nines hold high positions in religion, commerce and politics. They rarely hang low because they’re protected by all the branches they hold up.

Harvey Weinstein was nailed because his flagrant disregard created a reputation, and Ronan Farrow, who wants nothing more than to see his child-raping ex-father Woody Allen thrown in jail, decided to investigate that reputation.

It’s safe to say that Harvey Weinstein can thank Woody Allen for his position today. He was thrown to the wolves and the wagons, they circled.

After Kevin and Louis, the public should be satisfied with the low-hanging fruit we’ve been offered, and move on.

Any day now.

10: The General

Kinda like the Trafficker, the General creates situations where rape is going to happen and benefits strategically rather than strictly monetarily.

The General has the power and will to fight and stymie laws that tear down rape culture, commands the troops to rape everyone they don’t kill, buys ad campaigns featuring raped and beaten young women lying in dark alleys, brings ten thousand transient workers into your community and does nothing to weed out, much less rein in any Threes, Fives, Sixes, Sevens and Eights they’ve hired.

The General is the Overlord of the Good Ol’ Boys and Days, a member of the Old Guard, a staunch defender of boys being boys.

This position is almost exclusively designed by, for and about men, and I can’t think of many women Tens off the top of my head, but certainly it’s an equal opportunity position once a certain amount of power has been accrued.

Tens pose no danger to any single individual (unless the Ten is also a Nine, which is a distinct possibility); rather, they terrorize entire communities with rapey decisions. If a Ten has upset your life, it’s likely you don’t even know their name. They exercise power remotely, impassively, adhering to standards they’ve come to accept as reasonable, and then go home at night and fall into blissful sleep.

Some can be voted away, I suppose, but without a basic understanding that Rape Is a Bad Thing That Happens to a Lot of People, rape culture will always allow rapey-minded people to take up positions of power. But also, rapey-minded people aggressively seek out positions of power, so it’s a pretty self-sustaining little ecosystem we’ve got going on here.

About Inga Muscio

Inga Muscio (www.ingalagringa.com) is the author of three books: Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society and Rose: Love in Violent Times. She is also a public speaker and lives in the Pacific Northwest.